6 B2B Marketing Trends That You Should Watch Out for in 2024
The B2B marketing landscape is constantly evolving. Today, marketers are obsessing over customer experiences. Technology has also found its place in B2B marketing channels, with concepts such as interactive email marketing and marketing chatbots steadily being used.
As any marketer in the B2B space would agree, aligning your strategy with the evolving B2B trends increases the chances of scaling your brand. We have compiled B2B marketing trends for 2022 to help you refine your strategy for better results.
Let’s get started.
More Focus on Video Marketing
Customer attention spans are diminishing, so B2B marketing teams must increase their focus on creating captivating content.
Visual content marketing is proving a critical B2B marketing trend in 2022. It’s not just because it helps combat the issue of reduced attention span. Consumers also seem to love video content.
In a study done by Wyzowl, end-users were asked how they prefer to learn about a product. 73% responded that they’d prefer to watch a short video.
Video marketing campaigns help the brand stay relevant. Video content is also ideal for social shares and drives conversion rates.
Here are the most common video assets that B2B companies can create:
- Corporate videos - These are videos designed to showcase the company culture and establish brand identity
- Collateral videos - These are B2B sales videos that are highly customizable and geared toward specific B2B leads
- Short-form videos - Short-form videos are under 2.5 minutes and are best if you're targeting click-through rates
Fattmerchant is one of many brands that have embraced video marketing. They use engaging video content for lead generation and other uses.
Here are a couple of things to help you create an effective video marketing strategy:
- Identify the target audience and where they spend most of their time to know the type of video content to produce. For example, you can get away with longer videos on YouTube, but you’ll need shorter ones on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.
- Set timelines and a budget for each video campaign
- Identify the best social media platforms for video distribution. That will depend on where most of your target audience hangs out.
- Develop the ideal message for different target personas
- Identify the metrics to track and measure for success
The video creation process will entirely depend on the purpose of your digital marketing strategy. For example, you can create corporate and fun short-form videos for brand awareness. But if you’re looking to convert prospects, you may need to create customer testimonial videos, and video case studies, among others.
Explore the benefits of scaling video personalization for your business.
Emphasis on Mobile-First Approach
An annual internet report by Cisco on the global digital transformation across different business segments shows almost 7 billion people will have mobile connectivity by the end of 2024. Furthermore, nearly two-thirds of the population will have access to the internet by the same year.
Those are only a few key reasons why more brands focus on delivering mobile-friendly digital experiences. A mobile-optimized website design boosts your SEO performance and SERP position on Google. We already know that Google uses a mobile-first indexing strategy.
So, if you build links to boost your website's ranking and ensure your website is mobile-friendly, you can expect improved SEO.
So, here are a few tips on how B2B businesses can create a mobile-first design. First, build a site with a responsive web design. Optimize loading speed by minimizing HTTP requests, optimizing images, etc. Also, include mobile-visible CTAs. A mobile-friendly website should be easy to use with touch targets (links and buttons) that are not less than 48 x 48 pixels.
Pop-ups shouldn’t take up the whole page, and important points should be within easy reach of a thumb.
A company that takes this mobile-first approach is Google Maps. It has a mobile-optimized view that works well for users who would rather use their mobile devices.
In addition to using mobile Google-friendly websites, B2B marketers must also consider investing in mobile ads.
Integrating Sales and Marketing
Alignment of the sales and marketing departments exists, but it's not as integrated as it should be. A B2B marketing trends poll by ON24 indicates that almost 31% of B2B marketers feel that their marketing and sales teams don’t have a great relationship or have some tension.
B2B companies now realize that having divided sales and marketing teams is quite disadvantageous.
Both teams work towards the same goal; driving sales and revenue. So, they should be in sync at every level.
This trend has given rise to the era of ‘Smarketing.’ With this strategy, some companies now have a single sales and marketing department, which works seamlessly together to close deals.
For instance, sales teams share data to help the marketing team target the right prospects during lead generation.
Here’s what you should keep in mind for a more effective sales and marketing alignment:
- Create one buyer journey that both teams will use
- Create ideal buyer personas together
- Use a joint measuring key performance indicator system
- Constantly get client satisfaction feedback
- Circulate consistent marketing messages
LinkedIn takes the alignment of its sales and B2B marketers quite seriously.
It’s also essential for the marketing team to help the sales team identify what qualifies as a lead. This way, sales teams can follow up on better-qualified leads, as categorized by marketers, for better conversion rates and marketing ROI. Proposal builder software will enable you to integrate many different apps and software, such as CRM, email marketing, and project management software, which will help keep teams on the same page.
Hey there! Looking for the secret to B2B conversions? It's in the B2B Sales Funnel stages.
Omnichannel Approach
Omnichannel marketing is a strategy that sees the business promoting products across all devices, channels, and marketing platforms using cohesive visuals and unified messages—for example, promoting products through live chat, Facebook Messenger, email, etc., with consistent brand messaging.
The use of omnichannel marketing tactics is a B2B market trend that ensures companies can reach customers wherever they are. B2B businesses will need to integrate their tools, including live chat, email software solutions, etc., to have an effective omnichannel strategy.
By uniting these communication channels through omnichannel CRM platforms, marketing teams can deliver consistent brand messages more effectively.
B2B marketers should remember that omnichannel marketing should focus on the customers' interests for marketing effectiveness. That helps send out marketing messages that specifically appeal to the audience.
Adopting omnichannel marketing strategies come with plenty of benefits that include:
- Wider reach
- Increase in conversion opportunities
- Improved customer satisfaction
You don't need to be everywhere all at once to create an omnichannel experience. You can start with the basics; website and active social media accounts. Then move to others when you’ve nailed those down.
It’s important to note that there’s a difference between omnichannel and multichannel marketing. The omnichannel strategy uses multiple channels, but not all multichannel strategies qualify as omnichannel strategies.
For example, a company can have multiple channels such as mobile marketing, social media campaigns, and a great website. However, this is not an omnichannel experience if the channels are not working together.
More Brand Personalization
Brand personalization is one of the other major B2B marketing trends. Brand personalization is one way to differentiate your business from its competitors.
The brand's personalization must always reflect the target audience's voice and what they’re looking for in a B2B partner. That gives the B2B company a better chance to relate to its target clients.
You also need to earn more about your customers and deliver unique experiences to each user. That means you need to do more audience research and invest in a robust CRM solution (check out this article for a list of the best CRMs for marketers to help you achieve your goals; we also have an article that lists the best B2B CRMs) Basically, you want to have as much data about your target audience as possible. Then, use that data to deliver personalized experiences to your customers.
That should be done both for marketing and when interacting with existing customers. For example, your sales and marketing team can use the data to deliver personalized pitches. Account managers and customer reps could also utilize the data when speaking to existing customers.
Consider this example from Vidyard.
Vidyard shows great brand personalization in its campaigns. In this video, the sender addresses the recipient, Kyle, by their name. He also further refers specifically to the recipient’s colleagues and the conversations he has had with them.
Customer-Centric Content
Although content marketing trends have changed, content remains king. In the past, the focus in content marketing was more on creating search engine-friendly content. In 2022, B2B brands are more focused on creating customer-centric content.
Customer-centric content speaks directly to your target audience’s questions, needs, and concerns. In other words, don’t just create content in a silo. Instead, your content strategy is informed by your target audience’s needs and preferences.
For customer-centric content, B2B marketers need to consider these marketing guidelines:
- Effectively identify the target audience to create content that addresses their needs
- Optimize content using trending keywords to deliver the kind of content your audience resonates with.
- Prioritize the user experience and intent
- Consider social media marketing trends carefully and identify the best platforms to engage customers and foster customer relationships. For example, LinkedIn and Twitter are great places to share content with like-minded B2B clients.
Trello is a B2B brand that actively creates customer-centric content.
Trello addresses the needs of its audience by creating content that would be interesting and helpful to them. They also engage their audience on different platforms where their audiences would likely be.
When you combine customer-centric content with a customer-centric selling process, you take things to the next level.
Uncover how AI can reshape your content marketing process – insights shared here.
B2B Trends: Grab 'em Now & Amp Up Your Marketing!
B2B marketing trends have evolved over the past few years. For instance, brands avoid impersonal engagements and now create personalized B2B marketing strategies.
B2B brands must keep up with the latest B2B marketing trends to stay relevant, engage with clients and grow their businesses.
The major trends we’re seeing include; video marketing, integrating sales/marketing teams, having an omnichannel approach, brand personalization, taking a mobile-first approach, and creating customer-centric content. Overall, an effective B2B approach to marketing requires focusing on your B2B customers. Good luck!
About the Author: Matt Diggity is a search engine optimization expert and the founder and CEO of Diggity Marketing, The Search Initiative, Authority Builders, and LeadSpring LLC. He is also the host of the Chiang Mai SEO Conference.
